Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta took the fight for childhood obesity to the streets last Saturday when it hosted Strong4Life Atlanta at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site promoting active and healthy lifestyles for families.
“Georgia is second-highest in childhood obesity and we are tacking this crisis not only because of the statistic, but we are beginning to see many children come in with adult-type diseases such as hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and that should not be the case,” said Senior Vice President Linda Matzigkeit. “We put together this event to show our families how to eat right, become active, get support and have fun.”
The free community festival was in part of the nonprofit’s campaign to combat Georgia’s childhood obesity epidemic. One million children, out of the total 2.7 million children in Georgia, are diagnosed with obesity and 75 percent of parents do not recognize their child suffers from this disease.
Strong4Life encouraged families to eat healthier and demonstrate ways for everyone to get active. Tywanna Thomas brought her two daughters to the event as way to encourage healthy lifestyles. “As a parent, it is important for me to make sure that as a family we are eating and living healthy and this event is providing great resources to help us maintain that goal,” said Thomas, whose 11-year-old daughter partakes in CHOA’s Health4Life Clinic, which treats childhood obesity.
The event included cooking and nutrition demonstrations, a walk through the Old Fourth Ward, an obstacle course and a hula hoop contest. Matzigkeit added, “Our goal is to get Georgia out of the top-ten in five years, and for that we need our families, employers, our community to come together and help solve this problem in a proactive way.”
For information on Strong4Life program, visit www.strong4life.com
In Other News: On Oct. 4, NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity received a $20,000 donation from Wells Fargo in support towards a home-build in Mableton, Ga. NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity serves Cobb, Paulding and Douglas counties and has built over 300 homes since 1986.
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